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What is an affiliation?

An affiliation is a science fair or subset of a science fair with clear geographic boundaries and adequate size (number of high schools represented and number of high school students competing) which sends its top high school projects (grades 9-12) to compete in the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) and its top middle school projects (grades 6-8) to compete in the Broadcom MASTERS competition. Each affiliation is assigned by SSP a number of projects (one or more) to send to ISEF for that year. The number of projects that can be sent to ISEF from the affiliated fair depends on the number of students in grades 9-12 competing in the previous year's affiliated fair, the total number of high schools (grades 9-12) with projects at the previous year's affiliated fair, the population basis, and the number of students participating in feeder science fairs (school or club fairs). The International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF)—the world's largest pre-college science competition—provides an opportunity for the best young scientists from around the globe to share ideas, showcase cutting-edge science projects, and compete for over $4 million in awards and scholarships. Approximately 10% of middle school students in each affiliation advance to the Broadcom MASTERS competition.

All projects (including middle school projects) are assigned an affiliation when registered for TCRSF. The affiliation is used to determine eligibility for ISEF-sponsored awards given at TCRSF for both middle school and high school.

The Minnesota State Science and Engineering Fair is also an ISEF-affiliated fair. Projects (grades 9-12) that are not already chosen for ISEF competition from a regional level affiliated fair are considered for further competition.

Which ISEF affiliation will my student compete in?

The Twin Cities Regional Science Fairs (TCRSF) have three affiliations with ISEF which covers the four counties of Hennepin, Ramsey, Dakota, and Washington. When students register for TCRSF, each project will be assigned to one of these three affiliations: Twin Cities (T), St. Paul (S), or Western Suburbs (W). All three affiliation fairs together are included in the "Twin Cities Regional Science Fairs" and each affiliated fair represents a different demographic and geographic area.

Students are placed in their affiliation based on the location of their school's district headquarters. Schools whose school district headquarters are east of 35W compete in the Twin Cities affiliation. Schools whose school district headquarters are west of 35W compete in the Western Suburbs affiliation. The exception to this rule is for the St. Paul affiliation. Students who attend a school with headquarters located within the St. Paul city limits are in the St. Paul affiliated fair.

Therefore, students compete based on the location of their school's district headquarters. The headquarters of a private school is determined by the location of the private school. A home-schooled student's location is determined by their home school location. A student is assigned to the affiliation where they are REGISTERED as a student, even if they attend classes elsewhere as a PSEO student.

Simplified affiliation rules:

1. Is the student attending/registered at a school within the St. Paul city limits? If yes, they are in the St. Paul affiliation. If no, then continue.

2. Locate the school district headquarters for your student. For private school, it is the school location. For home-school, it is the home location of the school. Is the student's school headquarters located east of 35W on the map? If so, then the student is in the Twin Cities affiliation. Is the student's school headquarters located west of 35W on the map? If so, then the student is in the Western suburbs.

Is everything based on the student's fair affiliation?

No. The student's ribbon award and many other awards are based on the entire group of students at large and affiliation is not considered for these. The affiliation is important primarily for ISEF sponsored awards. More affiliations means more awards available for the students (a set of awards for each of the affiliated fairs - for each geographic area).

For Minnesota State Science and Engineering Fair and for JSHS, all students are considered to come from the Twin Cities region. At this time, the state considers TCRSF as one mega-fair instead of three simultaneous regional fairs.